How custom truck bodies helped WIN Waste Innovations improve its landfill efficiency and relationship with the community.
Landfills from an outside perspective can seem basic and somewhat unsightly in nature. Waste stemming from residential areas, and construction and demolition debris, is hauled to landfills to be compacted and buried. Few people care to take time to think about them, visit them or even understand the meticulous planning and operational coordination that goes into them. Waste operations work hard to minimize the impact of man-made waste and do everything possible to positively impact the surrounding community, from extracting gas to create energy or reducing construction and demolition waste to ash and hauling it to a waste reclamation plant. All waste management activities must be performed while adhering to strict regulations and neighborhood ordinances.
WIN Waste Innovations is one of the largest vertically integrated, privately held waste company in the U.S. The company operates three landfills, located in New Lexington, OH, Seneca County, OH, and Taylor County, GA. WIN Waste also has solutions for construction and demolition in the northeast U.S, where waste is shipped by rail car to the landfill locations. From the rail cars, off-highway haul trucks transport the refuse throughout the landfill where WIN Waste either buries it, extracts gas for energy or reduces some of it to ash. Extracted gas goes to energy plants to create steam or electricity, while ash goes to a monofil where it is cooled and taken to a metal reclamation plant.
In-House Alterations
Efficiency is important in a large landfill operation such as WIN Waste. Refuse is much lighter weight than other materials haul trucks are designed to carry, so while they were filling their truck bodies, they were hauling much less than the trucks’ rated weight. To haul more in each load and come closer to maximizing their trucks’ potential, WIN Waste altered its OEM truck bodies to be taller in order to hold more material.
These modified sideboards and tailgates increased the amount of material hauled but presented both safety and operational challenges. WIN Waste’s home-grown bodies were very tall, narrow and top heavy, which posed a tipping risk especially when trucks were operating on softer, less stable ground that’s common in landfills. Additionally, when dumping the refuse, the tailgates slammed loudly against the truck body, creating a noisy environment that bothered nearby residents.
A New Solution
Given the less-than-perfect fit of the modified truck bodies and the excessive noise they created, WIN Waste decided it was time for a new, custom-made solution. They reached out to Philippi-Hagenbuch, an innovative manufacturer of custom-engineered haul truck solutions. WIN Waste requested a quote from Philippi-Hagenbuch for refuse bodies compatible with their Caterpillar 740 trucks.
“We are always looking to be good corporate citizens and listen to our neighbors’ concerns about landfills,” said Anthony DiCarmine, then WIN Waste Innovations’ Regional Maintenance Manager. “One of the concerns we heard from the public was the slamming of tailgates on the path beds. We wanted a solution to eliminate excessive noise to benefit both us and our neighbors.”
Philippi-Hagenbuch worked with WIN Waste to develop refuse bodies to improve their hauling efficiency and address noise concerns. The new bodies are wider and feature a lower center of gravity as opposed to the homegrown bodies with a raised center of gravity. This, combined with weight distribution across all six tires, provides stability even on the uneven ground in the landfill to significantly enhance safety.
The new bodies elevated WIN Waste’s operation with increased hauling capacity and greater productivity. They also included custom-engineered tailgates that closed quietly, eliminating the issue of noise pollution. The company subsequently installed Philippi-Hagenbuch bodies on all their designated off-highway refuse trucks, which include Cat 740s, 745s and 773s, Komatsu HM400s, HD465-8s and 785s. At the New Lexington location alone, WIN Waste ordered 11 Philippi-Hagenbuch refuse bodies for trucks ranging from 50 to 100 tons in carrying capacity per load.
Maximizing Haul Potential
Operations, like landfills, that are paid by the ton increase profits when they complete a contracted job more efficiently. While landfills are only permitted to haul a certain amount of waste each day, hauling that material faster results in reduced labor and fuel costs, and less wear and tear on the equipment. Custom truck bodies help them haul more material with each pass, reducing the number of hours it takes to haul the contracted amount of waste.
By deploying custom-engineered bodies for each haul truck, WIN Waste has increased the cubic yardage of material hauled per load, decreasing the number of trips needed for each contracted job. Since installing Philippi-Hagenbuch refuse bodies, WIN Waste has increased their productivity to hauling between 5,000 and 6,800 tons of refuse each day—an increase from around 2,500 tons per day previously. WIN Waste is also getting more life out of their truck bodies. They have already used the original bodies for 20,000 hours but are working with Philippi-Hagenbuch to refurbish them to gain an additional 50 percent life.
“We’re currently getting double the life out of our bodies compared to our trucks,” DiCarmine said. “Now, we’re just ordering trucks without OEM bodies on them so, right away, we can equip them with Philippi-Hagenbuch bodies.”
A Helpful, Supportive Manufacturer
No solution is truly bulletproof, so to speak. Hauling refuse takes a toll on haul trucks and even the most durable solutions will need repairs and modifications. WIN Waste officials have appreciated Philippi-Hagenbuch’s responsiveness throughout the equipment lifecycle.
The manufacturer’s support extends well beyond addressing wear and tear. For instance, WIN Waste ran into an obstacle with the front slope of the body being too high. When they took the bodies off in the maintenance shop, the body would hit overhead beams and cause damage. The Philippi-Hagenbuch team took that into consideration when designing the next round of bodies, decreasing the height of the front slope by 8 inches without decreasing hauling capacity.
Another time, WIN Waste’s haul route length increased and, due to longer travel times, they needed more volume out of their truck bodies. A Philippi-Hagenbuch representative visited the site and brainstormed with the WIN Waste team. After weighing some options and going through calculations, Philippi-Hagenbuch built a wider body to keep the center of gravity low while increasing volume by 30 percent.
“If we notice any cracks or other signs of wear, we take pictures and contact Philippi-Hagenbuch,” DiCarmine said. “They’ll send engineers out when we contact them and are redesigning second-generation bodies for us based on what we currently need. They’ve really worked with us to enhance the product.”
The companies’ shared focus on innovation continues to bring new improvements and efficiencies to WIN Waste’s operation. The most recent truck body Philippi-Hagenbuch engineered for the company increased a haul truck’s volumetric capacity by more than 100 percent—from 96 cubic yards to 200 cubic yards—while maintaining a design focused on safety within the truck’s rated weight.
While designing the new generation of bodies, Philippi-Hagenbuch took the initiative to increase the hardness of the steel to Hardox 500 Tuf, to provide a 50 percent longer floor life, while simultaneously providing additional corrosion resistance against acidic materials being hauled.
Invest in the Best
Safe, efficient refuse hauling is important to WIN Waste, which they have accomplished through a well-thought-out operation and a supportive truck body manufacturing partner. The trucks have also been instrumental in making sure they are in good standing with their neighbors.
“Commitment to our community is very important to us,” DiCarmine said. “We want to invest in the best technology available that helps us not only operate efficiently but ensures we are being good corporate citizens.”
Engineering innovative haul truck solutions for more than 56 years, Philippi-Hagenbuch Inc. has been building equipment for off-highway haul trucks since 1969. During this time, PHIL has become the global leader in off-highway truck customization. In addition to their innovative tailgates, push blocks, rear-eject bodies and trailers, Philippi-Hagenbuch designs and builds end-dump bodies, trailers, sideboards, load ejectors and water tanks for nearly every make and model of articulated and rigid frame off-highway truck available. Engineered in Peoria, IL and manufactured globally. For more information, visit www.philsystems.com.